Apple will allow activation of used parts in repairs by users & service shops

Apple is expanding its self-repair program procedures, and is adding the ability for consumers to use parts pairing to fully activate used parts in repairs — assuming they haven’t been harvested from stolen devices.

Starting in the fall, Apple is implementing a new parts-pairing process that it says will “maintain an iPhone user’s privacy, security, and safety, while offering consumers more options, increasing product longevity, and minimizing the environmental impact of a repair.” The company will alter its parts pairing process — and will prevent the use of parts that are associated with a device that has Activation Lock enabled.

This is an expansion and complication of Apple’s parts pairing of replaced components in software after a repair. The practice is controversial, with repair shops and right to repair advocates complaining that it limits options and generates a pile of e-waste. Apple says that the lock-down on stolen iPhone parts has been requested by law enforcement for some time.

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